The South African National Defence Union (SANDU) has welcomed the appointment of new Defense Minister Angie Motshekga and her two deputies, Bantu Holomisa and Richard Mkhungo.
Their names were unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his Cabinet announcement on Sunday night.
The union’s Tim Flack hopes the new minister and her deputies will address the needs of the South African soldiers.
Two soldiers were killed and two others injured when they came under fire from M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week.
Two more soldiers and a military medical practitioner were also killed in February and last month.
Flack said that it was clear that South African soldiers lacked the neccessary support and resources for warfare.
“Some soldiers, it’s been reported that they’ve been complaining about basic necessities like showers and toilets. But the most important thing is that they need the tools that are necessary to be able to do their job correctly.”
Flack added that more funds needed to be allocated to the defence budget.
“I think the sweet spot is usually about 2% of the GDP that goes to defence, that’s usually about a good measure to take. But definitely defence ministers in the past, going back to Minister Sisulu, have complained that the budget for defence needs to be addressed and it needs to be raised.”
-EWN
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